Fox Cities Trestle Trail entrance from Fritse Park in the Town of Menasha.

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TOWN OF MENASHA — Town officials will appoint a committee to determine whether incorporation into a village would be beneficial.

The Town of Menasha has more than 18,000 residents, making it the second-largest town in the state. The town is larger than the city of Menasha and most villages. It operates police and fire services, a municipal court, a parks and recreation department, and water and sewer services.

“It’s (incorporation) been talked about off and on for the last 15 to 20 years,” said Town Administrator Jeffrey Sturgell. “It’s natural for us to take a look at. We want to know, is this something worthwhile?”

Town Chairman Dale Youngquist brought a resolution to the board this week to establish a committee of seven town residents to study the issue. He expects the committee to be formed in the next month or two. Members will study the pros and cons of incorporation into a village and bring their recommendation to the town board at the annual town meeting in 2015, Youngquist said.

“They shouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel, a lot of research has been done over time by staff,” Youngquist said. “It was looked at long before I was on the board.”

Youngquist wants “an unbiased look” at the issue.

Incorporating into a village would prevent annexation and protect the town’s borders, Sturgell and Youngquist said. It also would allow the town to use economic development tools such as tax incremental financing and have more control over zoning and planning.

However, incorporating does have drawbacks, Sturgell said.

“One of the negatives is the possibility of not being able to incorporate the entire town due to the islands created on the east side by previous annexations,” he said.

Youngquist also expressed concern about the town property located east of Little Lake Butte des Morts, where town and city land are intermixed.

“It’s chaos on the east side and annexations have led to that chaos,” Youngquist said, “and annexations continue to this day.”

Incorporation also means expenses for the town including engineering fees for surveys, legal fees and a $25,000 application fee.